does anyone know where blenheim comes from. in the uk is a castle with the name, it is from there the name of our dogs come

29th December 2012, 02:52 PM

MomObvious

Alright here is the story as I understand it. Please excuse me for my lack of remembering names but..... Also I believe this story is folklore, so I'm sure some details are fuzzy at best.
The story goes who ever was King at the time kept these little dogs around. We all know cavalier were favorites of royalty and noble folk way back in history. They had no hunting or herding function but were kept as companions/lap dog to keep you warm and keep the fleas on them and not humans etc. From the story we get the the king favored blenheim castle was a real lover of the brown and white dogs. So I suspect that yes that is were our dogs get their name.

On a secondary note: the queens thumbprint or brown/red spot on the top of a blenheim cavalier has a story all its own. Again folklore, but that story goes while her husband the king was off at war the very worried queen spent her days calming herself but sitting and petting one of their pregnant blenhiem cavalier's especially the top of her head. As a result all the puppies born of that litter had a brown/red dot on the top of their heads....this trait can be seen in some blenhiem cavalier's today.

I'm sure someone can clarify these stories I have just told and knows more about cavalier history that I do. But that is what I know.

29th December 2012, 04:09 PM

Chuck

or this

It was King Charles II that Cavaliers got their name from. He was a true lover of the breed and could almost always be seen with several spaniels at his heels. When King Charles II died in 1685 at age 54, 12 toy spaniels mourned at the side of his bed. The Blenheim Cavalier (red and white) got its name from the Blenheim Palace where the dogs were bred.

29th December 2012, 04:29 PM

cavalover

Here is a nice website summarizing some of the the legends (and maybe a few facts) regarding Cavaliers. I don't see a resources section on this website, so can't guarantee the accuracy. However, the section on "The Duke and the Duchess of Marlborough and Blenheim Palace" summarizes the story I have heard before about the origin of the "Blenheim spot"

Yes -- Blenheim as a colour term comes not from King Charles but the Duke of Marlborough and Blenheim Palace.

The cavalier breed of today is actually a reconstruction of the breed of small spaniel of the time but would have its ancestry in some dogs from that time of course. There are also some other breeds mixed in to produce the cavalier -- which ones are debated still today and different breeders likely may have bred in a few different breeds...

30th December 2012, 07:04 PM

Kate H

In 2011 the UK Cavalier Club organised a weekend in the grounds of Blenheim Palace - a fun day on the Saturday and a Championship show on te Sunday. I went on the Saturday, the weather was perfect, the grounds are beautiful, we were in sight of the palace, and I've always wanted to take my blenheim to Blenheim! There are still some pictures of the weekend on the Cavalier Club website (www.thecavalierclub.co.uk)